Ford 3910 oil in exhaust & wiring issues

baker02 · Apr 21, 2017

I've recently purchased an old Ford 3910 and had some questions now that I've serviced it and cleaned it up some. As you can see in picture 1 and 2 there's a good amount of oil blowing out of the manifold and leaking down from where the muffler attaches...I should've noticed that when I bought it but that's water under the bridge now. It blue smokes once it warms up from the muffler and the vent tube on the other side of the tractor as well. I guess my question is with all that in mind does that narrow it down enough to know what the issue is? The muffler does have a flapper on it so there shouldn't have been water in it.
I'm also trying to find a wiring diagram for this tractor because the guy that owned it before the man I bought it from replaced the dashboard and none of the gauges are working. The fuel gauge and headlights only work when the key is turned all the way to the left so I'm assuming it's wired wrong. The temp gauge, RPM, and hour meter don't work at all. The only indication of disconnected wires I've found is a harness at the back of the tractor, see picture 3. I've no idea what they go to. I bought the Clymer Ford 3910 Shop Manual but it doesn't cover electrical. I've found a larger manual online but it starts at $200.
The tractor seems stout and appears to run fine despite those things. I've been running tractors for years but haven't messed with an older tractor like this or with these issues, so any help would be great. Thanks.

Jerry/MT · Apr 23, 2017

If you are going to try to sort out the wiring, you'll need a factory manual. They have wiring diagrams in them plus descriptions of how the systems operate. A full set of service manuals are expensive if you buy them brand new from New Holland but you can often find them on ebay and the first repair you do will more than pay for them compared to taking the tractor to a repair shop. That wire harness looks like factory wiring and the wires appear to be color coded so the factory manual should helpy ou sort it out. Make sure that your battery ground connection is not loose or corroded and check your battery terminals also.

The issue with "..oil no the exhaust manifold.." lt appears to be "diesel slobbers". This caused by long periods of idling or low power operations and is a mixture on unburned fuel and oil residue by an engine that is never really worked. Usually working the snot out of the engine will cause this problem to disappear. Diesels are different from gassers. The diesel runs with variable fuel air ratios so at lo power, the fuel air ratio at a given rpm is low and it is high at high load for a give rpm. This means that lo load operations result in peak gas temperatures in the engine that are low at low load and higher at high load. Blue smoke from the exhaust and crankcase vent can also be caused by slobbers but it can also mean loss of oil control of the piston rings. my advice to you is to work the snot out of the tractor to get it up to higher internal temperatures and see if that causes the "problem" to go away.

The 10 Series Fords are some of the most bullet proof tractors made and the 201 engine is also bullet proof. Get the right shop manuals and you can probably sort out your wiring problems.

baker02 · Apr 23, 2017

Thanks! After reading some other threads about diesel slobber I had figured that might be my issue. I'd never heard of that before but the throttle wouldnt stay pulled down longer than a few seconds before pulling itself back up. I tightened it up were it would quit that, but I bet the guy that used to own it was operating it like that out of ignorance. Which makes sense with what your saying. Ive got a temperature sending unit ordered and have to pick up an RPM cable tomorrow. It finally occured to me to use the ohms setting on my multimeter to trace the wires. Ive about got them figured out. Once i get those two things fixed I'll run the dog out of it and see what happens. Thanks!

baker02 · May 16, 2017

I thought I'd update this since it's been about a month. After running the tractor some the oil or slobber coming out of the exhaust has slowed way down but the blue smoke from the muffler and vent tube hasn't. Unfortunately we've discovered it's burning oil like nobody's business. My father ran it for two hours this past weekend doing some shredding in thick weeds and grass and said he had to add 3 quarts of oil to it when he was done. Judging by what I've read on here I'm assuming the rings are out. But I'm not real experienced with those types of repairs so I really have no clue. I posted about it in another thread but I've about got the temperature gauge working, or at least I hope, but the tractor runs fine and has plenty of power, it's just burning oil.

Jerry/MT · May 18, 2017

baker02 said:
I thought I'd update this since it's been about a month. After running the tractor some the oil or slobber coming out of the exhaust has slowed way down but the blue smoke from the muffler and vent tube hasn't. Unfortunately we've discovered it's burning oil like nobody's business. My father ran it for two hours this past weekend doing some shredding in thick weeds and grass and said he had to add 3 quarts of oil to it when he was done. Judging by what I've read on here I'm assuming the rings are out. But I'm not real experienced with those types of repairs so I really have no clue. I posted about it in another thread but I've about got the temperature gauge working, or at least I hope, but the tractor runs fine and has plenty of power, it's just burning oil.

The oil control rings could be stuck an not clearing oil off the cylinder walls. This can happen from long periods of low power operation that cause "diesel slobbers". Long periods of heavy work may clear it up, may not. Since you say you have plenty of power, and you are not complaining about hard starting,I doubt it's a compression issue ( worn compression rings). Work it hard and see if it improves. Adding oil is cheap compared to an engine tear down.

baker02 · May 18, 2017

Jerry/MT said:
The oil control rings could be stuck an not clearing oil off the cylinder walls. This can happen from long periods of low power operation that cause "diesel slobbers". Long periods of heavy work may clear it up, may not. Since you say you have plenty of power, and you are not complaining about hard starting,I doubt it's a compression issue ( worn compression rings). Work it hard and see if it improves. Adding oil is cheap compared to an engine tear down.

Amen to that. I've only used it to shred so far. I'll get time in the next month to work the dog out of it. Thanks.

baker02 · May 18, 2017

Is there an additive I can put in the oil y'all recommend that would help stuck rings? I've used Lucas in the past, but just as a general maintenance fluid. I know I'd still need to work the tractor and see but I figured it wouldn't hurt if there was something that would help.

jimmysisson · May 18, 2017

An old mechanic friend told me (in 1969) they serviced cabs and some just wouldn't break in. They'd drive to the top of the longest hill around and put a handful of Bon Ami in the carb. They'd floor it down the hill, the engine about half seizing up the whole way. Seated the oil rings, he said. 'Course HE had a slight alcohol problem... I don't recommend that method, just liked the (tall) tale. Jim